AoH-Athens Participatory Leadership Training

Today’s world is in flux. We are feeling this on a large scale and in our daily lives. 2016 saw the mass movement of people and politics: people seeking refuge into Europe with closed borders and the loss of lives, a Brexit result to the UK referendum, the US and other elections. Here in Greece we continue to feel the squeeze of austerity with no sign of letting up. It is becoming clearer and clearer that the traditional linear and top-down leadership and problem-solving methods simply no longer work. On a personal level, we are experiencing the uncertainty and stress that come from this increasingly global state of chaos and complexity. Now, more than ever, we need to think and work differently.

Greece is a living model of communities opening up to the new systems and creating new forms of collaboration within a context of collapse. These prototypes are based on a worldview of self-organization and participation, based on theories and practices of “living systems”. Where there is life, the new systems are emerging; specifically, through engaging together to find the intelligence, resilience, moral values and surprising resources between us. The current crisis has left many feeling powerless, and yet we are seeing over and over that within the collapse lay the seeds of immense possibility.

We invite you to join us to learn and practice the Art of Participatory Leadership. This practice focuses on creating the conditions for meaningful conversations between diverse actors & sectors, even with conflicting perspectives. By bringing together a variety of participants from all backgrounds, ages and nationalities, the training creates a space for authentic connections that fosters the capacity to transform, inspire, and empower. During the three days you will experience practices of dialogue, to support you in discovering skills and accessing the courage to traverse complexity and confusion. Participatory Leadership is a practice of collaboration and leading that invites the diversity among us to uncover new solutions. This training will allow you to explore with others a new perspective on how co-operation, collaboration, complexity and conflict can create generative results. The training works on two levels simultaneously, the personal and the collective, and explores ways of how one helps the other to grow.